Learning to Fly Again
by Anthurak
Summary: In the wake of her return to Earth, Lapis learns what it means to be free and struggles with her place in this new world. Of course, Steven's not going to let her face her problems alone. And he's not the only one who wants to help...
1. Chapter 1

Steven Universe Story

"Learning to Fly Again"

"They kept you prisoner! This is your chance for revenge!"

Among the fire and wreckage of the crashed Gem warship, the massive orange quartz warrior looked down with a crazed, savage grin at the small, blue Gem.

"Lapis… don't do it!" Across from the pair, a young half-Gem, half-human boy looked on from the protective clutches of his three guardians, who themselves glared at the two Homeworld Gems who wished harm on their home. But the boy himself could only look on in fear - not for himself or his home, but for the safety of his friend. He couldn't claim to be an expert on Fusion, but he knew that what Jasper was trying to convince his friend to do would only get her hurt.

"Come on, just say yes!"

Lapis Lazuli heard Jasper speak with that sneer of hers, but Lapis wasn't focused on the larger Gem. Instead she was looking at the group across from them - the three Gems that were traitors to Homeworld, the _Crystal Gems_ , the ones that held her captive all those centuries. Of course, it wasn't as if the Homeworld she had returned to treated her any better. Jasper was really no different than those three. All any of them wanted to do was keep her prisoner. Whether in a mirror, a cell or a fusion. It seemed like that was what everyone wanted for her.

All except one. The young… boy that those three Gems held in their protective grasp.

Steven was different. He had helped Lapis, asking only for friendship in return. Already he had saved her twice - once from the mirror she was imprisoned in, and when he healed her cracked Gem. When she was imprisoned on the ship, he had tried to save her again, but she rejected him - because she was afraid. And now Lapis could see that he was afraid.

Lapis closed her eyes as she made her decision. Steven _was_ her friend, and it was time she helped him. And maybe get a little payback in the process. For all that the Crystal Gems had done to her, they were still Steven's friends too. But Jasper…

Lapis looked to the larger Gem, and extended a hand to her.

The Quartz wanted a Fusion? She'd _give her a Fusion_.

Jasper's crazed grin widened as she grabbed Lapis's hand roughly.

Lapis could hear Steven cry out for her to stop. She only focused on Jasper. For this to work, Lapis needed to have absolute focus. Unlike the Quartz, Lapis had never fused before. Of course, Jasper was only experienced with fusing with Gems of her own kind, and while Lapis had been trapped in that mirror, she had observed a bit about cross-Gem fusions. She might not know a lot, but she did know it was nothing like the fusing Jasper was familiar with. She'd have to be careful. Right now Jasper was focused solely on beating the Crystal Gems. She believed that Lapis was weak and subservient. And Lapis would play that role, right up to the point where it would be too late for the Quartz.

Which was why it was quite the shock to both of them when a familiar pink shield smashed into Jasper's face.

Her eyes wide in shock, Lapis turned to see Steven standing in front of his friends, his hand outstretched from the throw he had just made. He was hunched over, obviously exhausted, but the look of fear on his face was replaced with one of determination.

"Lapis! Don't do it! It's not worth it!"

But seeing the boy like this reminded Lapis of what she had felt when she had been in that cell, and even earlier when she had managed to send that warning to him.

"Steven, don't interfere! I can handle this!"

Suddenly, she was afraid. Afraid for him. Afraid that he'd get hurt… or worse.

"Just let me do this for y-GRRHK"

A huge hand suddenly seized Lapis by the neck, yanking her off the ground so that she was now staring into a pair of yellow eyes, burning with anger.

"What was that?" Jasper growled out, "What were you just saying?!"

Lapis could barely hear the Quartz. She was too focused on trying to breath through the hand that was crushing her neck.

"That was just some trick wasn't it?!" Jasper was yelling now, "You're with them aren't you?! You'd rather be a traitor like the rest of these Crystal Gems?!"

Lapis grabbed at Jasper's hand, the larger Gem now seeming to pay her no heed.

"Too bad. I was actually a little curious to see a Fusion. But no matter! I'll just crush all of you traitors myself!"

"So you want to see a Fusion?" a new voice rang out across the beach, soft yet also powerful. Jasper turned to the voice just in time to take a spike of energy straight to the chest. Lapis was able to turn her head just enough to see a tall, long-haired Gem standing next to Steven and the Crystal Gems' fusion, a massive bow held in her four arms. A bow she was drawing back again, and shot another arrow of energy into Jasper's chest.

The Quartz stumbled back as she took the second arrow, then a third. Lapis continued to claw desperately at the hand around her neck. Jasper might be one of Homeworld's elite warriors, but all Gems had their limits, and she was almost past her's.

But even as Jasper was about to keel over, the massive warrior looked Lapis dead in the eye, a look of defiant rage and fury. And with the last of her strength, Jasper _squeezed_.

Lapis was dimly aware of a final arrow piercing Jasper's chest.

Then everything went dark.

"Lapis!" Steven cried out as the two Gems vanished in two almost simultaneous poofs of smoke. In their places, two small gemstones, one blue, one orange, fell to the sand.

Even as exhausted as he was, Steven still managed a full sprint over the beach. As he reached the spot, he fell to his knees, carefully scooping up the ocean-blue, teardrop-shaped gem in his hands. His hands still shaking, he looked over the small stone.

Steven breathed a sigh of relief when he couldn't find any cracks or blemishes. Lapis was okay. _She was going to be okay_. He repeated that to himself in his head a few times. He was so focused he didn't even notice the flash of light behind him until the purple hand patted him on the shoulder.

"Nice going dude." Steven looked up to see Amethyst smiling down at him, Pearl approaching behind her. Both looked rather haggard, particularly Pearl. After all the fighting they had done, forming Opal, even for only a few moments, must have taken a lot out of the two Gems. Despite that though, both had a look of pride on their faces.

"Yes, that was quick thinking Steven. I can't imagine what kind of menace those two would've made if they'd been able to fuse." Pearl said, giving Steven her own comforting pat on the head.

"Man, did you see their faces when Steven hit Jasper in the face? WHAM!" Amethyst seemed to have regained her exuberance as she punched her palm. "That was Awesome!"

"I'll admit, that was rather… satisfying."

"Oh, 'satisfying' huh? Come on, P', you know you so wanted to see that big jerk get a good smack to the face." Amethyst grinned as she gave Pearl a good-natured nudge.

Steven would've kept listening to two's friendly banter, if he didn't notice Garnet walking to where Jasper had fallen a few feet away. The tall Gem picked up the orange gemstone in her hand, a hand Steven now noticed was still covered in a large, armored gauntlet.

Garnet held the stone between her fingers, and although her eyes were obscured by her visor, Steven could tell she was looking long and hard at the gem. A Gem that had threatened her home, hurt her friends, and quite literally split her apart.

That's right, Steven reminded himself. He had only seen Ruby and Sapphire for a few minutes before they re-fused into Garnet, but seeing how much they cared, how much they _loved_ each other… being forcefully separated like that must have been terrible. And now Garnet was holding the one responsible in her hand…

Steven felt his breath catch as he realized what Garnet might be thinking. He'd seen her gauntleted hands smash massive boulders and crush the armor of gem monsters like it was paper.

As large and powerful as Jasper had been, her gem suddenly looked very fragile between Garnet's fingers.

However, even as Steven was gripped by all of those thoughts, Garnet glanced to him, and though he couldn't see her eyes past her visor, she could certainly see his. She gave him a small smile.

And the orange gemstone was enveloped in a translucent pink sphere, and vanished.

Steven let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding, and gave a thankful smile and nod to Garnet.

As he thought about it, there was good reason for… disposing of Jasper. She was an enemy. And a powerful, dangerous enemy. Something Steven had experienced first-hand only a few hours before. But even so, it still felt _wrong_ to just… snuff her out.

"Yo, Ste-man. You gonna bubble that already?" Amethyst's voice brought him out of his thoughts. Looking to her, he realized she was pointing to the blue gem he was holding in his own hands.

"What? No!" he closed his hands over the gem defensively, "Lapis doesn't deserve that!"

Amethyst brought her hand back, her tone becoming far less flippant at Steven's sudden defensiveness.

"Uh, dude, I know you care about her but, she _was_ going to fuse with Jasper and take us all out."

"She wasn't. Or, she wasn't going to fight us," Steven's voice lost much of it's defensiveness as he tried to describe what he'd been feeling just before he had thrown his shield at Jasper, "I think… she was going to try and take control of the fusion, somehow turn it against Jasper. But it wasn't going to work, and she was going to get hurt doing it."

"Makes sense," Garnet spoke up as she approached them, "Any fusion formed on deceit and mistrust is not going to be a pretty sight. Plus, I'm pretty sure those two are _really_ bad for each other."

"Okay, but even so," Pearl spoke, carefully, as she knew this was obviously a delicate subject, "We don't exactly have the best history with Lapis Lazuli to begin with. Maybe it would be a good idea to keep her bubbled? Just to be safe?"

"No." Steven's tone had lost it's defensiveness, but not its conviction. He knew Pearl was only looking out for them, trying to be safe. But this was something he also knew he couldn't compromise on.

"Lapis has been in too many cages already. She doesn't need to be in another one."

Pearl and Amethyst looked to each other, then to Garnet, but it seemed like the fusion had already made up her mind.

"Alright. If that's what you think." Her tone belied no uncertainty. If this was Steven's decision, then she would go along with it.

"Yeah, okay. If that's how you want to do, we'll follow your lead." Amethyst gave him a renewed smile.

"Well… if you really believe that… okay." Pearl didn't seem as convinced, but she could tell this was something Steven was not going to budge on.

Steven's pose finally relaxed as he smiled back. "Thanks guys. I kn-"

He was cut off by the familiar jingle coming from his pocket.

Barely registering the Caller-ID image, he hit the 'Answer' button and brought the phone to his ear.

" _Steven!"_

"Connie?"

" _I saw that huge ship come down on the beach! Are you guys okay?!"_

"I… We're…"

It was at that moment, as he stood among the burning fragments of a massive space-ship, the remains of an all-out _battle_ fought by him and his family against an alien invasion… Steven finally felt a sense of… perspective.

" _Steven?"_

Where to even _begin?_


	2. Chapter 2

Learning to Fly Again

Chapter 2

Connie Maheswaran had seen a lot of strange things over the last year ever since she met Steven Universe and his family.

She'd been stuck in a seemingly indestructible energy bubble, ridden a pink, teleporting lion, seen an entire ocean pulled together to form a tower reaching to the stars, had an equivalent of _corrective eye surgery_ done by accidentally drinking her friend's spit… which really sounded kind of gross when she thought of it like that, but it was still pretty incredible.

And of course there was… Stevonnie.

That had been months ago, and Connie still couldn't find the words to describe what happened that night other than, as Garnet said, an _experience_.

Ever since she met Steven, she'd been able to see all of these strange and amazing things, and even _be_ _a part_ of some of them. It was like one of those books about magic and monsters and adventure that she loved to read had somehow come to life, and somehow, even more incredibly, _she was a part of it_. It all felt, for lack of a better term… _magical_. Sometimes Connie was afraid that she'd wake up one day to find out Steven and the Gems and all that wonder and adventure was nothing more than a dream.

But as she walked down the beach, Connie realized the opposite was happening. She _was_ waking up, and instead of the magic all being a dream, it was more _real_ than she had ever thought.

Massive chunks of debris littered the beach. There was so much, there seemed to be more wreckage than sand. All of it was made of strange green metal or plastic. When Connie briefly ran her hand along one piece, it felt more like carved stone than metal. It was a reminder of something she learned a while ago, but only now did its significance truly sink in.

The Gems were _aliens_. Their 'magic' was technology far beyond human understanding. And they were _soldiers_ , refugees of an ancient war to protect the Earth thousands of years ago. A war that seemed to have found them again. Steven was always been vague whenever the topic of the Crystal Gems' Rebellion against their Homeworld came up. Not intentionally though. Connie got the impression that Steven himself didn't know that much about Gem history.

Actually, Steven had been rather vague yesterday when she called, but that seemed to be for an entirely different reason. Obviously something BIG happened and Steven was having trouble putting it into words. What she had gotten out of him was little more than an incoherent jumble of sentences that she couldn't really make sense of before he hung up. But he did say for her to come by as soon as she could. So that was what she was doing.

Honestly, she would've done that even if he hadn't asked. What kind of friend would she be if she didn't check in on a friend that apparently had just fought off an alien invasion?

After a few minutes of working her way through the maze of wreckage, Connie finally emerged onto the end of the small spit of land jutting out from Beach City, and could see the massive eight-armed, feminine statue carved out of the bluff of that peninsula, staring out at the ocean. And nestled at the foot of the statue, held between two of its hands, was a familiar house.

As she approached it, Connie was relieved to discover it looked to be undamaged, and not just for Steven's sake. After seeing the beach littered with alien debris and the unsettling thoughts that it brought up, seeing something normal and familiar was a great calm to her nerves. She barely noticed that she had made the routine climb up the steps and knocked on the screen door until it swung open to reveal a tall, slender, pale-skinned woman.

"Ah, Connie. Good to see you." Pearl smiled down at her, a smile which Connie immediately returned. It wasn't just because Steven was her friend that she liked coming here. Just being able to hang out with the other Gems was a treat itself. Sure, Steven was a great guy, but the Gems were just so… amazing.

"Steven! Connie's here!" Pearl spoke over her shoulder. As she did, Connie glanced past her to see Steven getting up from the couch that hugged the house's wall. That was odd, now that she thought about it. Generally, Steven liked to be the one to answer the door if he was anywhere nearby. Wonder what wa-

"Steven!" she cried, "What happened to your face?" All thoughts of her friends' door-answering-habits vanished as she got a good look at Steven, and saw the ugly, dark swelling around his left eye. In their time together, Connie had seen Steven take a few pretty good hits to the face and come out without a scratch. So for something to have hit him hard enough to give him a _black eye_ , well, it brought back those thoughts she'd been having on her walk down the wreckage-strewn beach.

"Oh, right. This." Steven hand went up to the welt, as if just remembering that it was there. "Yeah, I got hit kinda hard yesterday. I think it was when the ship crashed…"

"Steven, are you okay?" Connie asked as she leaned forward a little, trying to get a closer look.

"Yeah… Yeah, it's fine. Come on in!" Steven smiled as he waved her inside. However, as she followed him inside, Connie noticed something else off. Steven was… subdued somehow. After how excited he sounded on the phone yesterday, she was really expecting him to be bouncing off the walls, eager to tell her all about this epic battle that he and the Gems fought against evil alien invaders. Maybe the Gems used one of their fusions, or maybe Steven himself unlocked some new and amazing power that saved the day. But Steven was quiet. In fact, he was much more quiet than usual. Whenever Connie came over, Steven almost always had something to talk about or was asking her about something or just making small-talk.

Instead, Steven didn't say a word as they walked across the room to the couch where he'd been siting before she arrived. Connie was about to speak when she noticed something on the table in front of the couch.

It was a small bowl, filled with folded cloth. And placed carefully on top of the cloth was a small, blue, teardrop-shaped stone.

A _Gem_ stone.

"Steven…" she asked quietly, "Is that…?"

"Yeah." Steven answered, slowly sitting down on the couch in front of the bowl, looking directly at it, "That's Lapis."

So many questions that Connie wanted to ask were forgotten as she realized the significance of what she was looking at. She remembered Steven mentioning Lapis on the phone yesterday, but not much more than just mentioning her name and saying there had been a fight. Connie didn't really know that much about the blue Gem in the first place, though it was hard to forget someone that moved an _ocean_ , as well as try to kill her… She had never seen Lapis directly, only having seen a projection of her created by Garnet and a water projection of her that had talked to Steven. Of course, Steven told her all about his encounters with Lapis, how he freed her from the mirror and their meeting at the top of Lapis's, quite literal, water tower. He had told Connie that the Gem wasn't really a bad person, she just wanted to get home. Except that it seemed like that home wasn't a very nice place.

"Is she going to be okay?" she asked as she sat down next to Steven, looking carefully at the blue stone. She had never seen any of the Gems in their 'true' forms. A while ago, Pearl had explained to her in detail how their humanoid bodies were simply solid projections and their Gemstones were in fact their true bodies. But even with that information, it was still such a, well, _alien_ concept that it was still strange to see such a small object and know that it was not only a sentient, intelligent creature, but one that had been able to control several billion gallons of water. And seeing her like this, and knowing that Gems were only in this form after something very bad happened to them…

Suddenly all of the questions came roaring back. All of the scattered pieces of information she had already gathered. The massive explosion she had seen last night, the wreckage-strewn beach, Steven's black eye, and the incapacitated Gem in her friend's care.

"Steven, _what happened?_ "


	3. Chapter 3

Learning to Fly Again

Chapter 3

"…and that was when you called. I guess you know the rest."

Sitting on the old couch, Connie looked at Steven as he finished talking, her eyes wide.

"Wow…" she breathed out, her mind still trying to process everything she just heard.

"Yeah," Steven chuckled faintly, "pretty crazy, huh?"

'Crazy' was putting it mildly as far as Connie was concerned. The past two hours felt like they passed in a blur as Steven recounted everything that happened yesterday. Yet now that Steven was finished and Connie was trying to process all of it, it felt like it had been so much longer. So many _life-changing_ things happened yesterday… no wonder Steven barely had been able to speak on the phone.

His story started out the way she might have expected - a massive alien ship suddenly appearing in the sky over Beach City, the ominous sense of dread that it brought, how everyone had been convinced to evacuate and the Gems sending Steven away with his father so he'd be safe.

Of course, Steven wasn't going to have any of that. Connie remembered smiling as Steven told her about jumping out of Greg's van (or rather, being accidentally ejected from the van via airbag) and riding back to Beach City on Lion to help the Gems. _That_ was the Steven she knew - never abandoning those in need, especially his family.

But then he described what happened when he got there - the massive ship shrugging off everything the Gems threw at it without so much as a scratch and the way its weapons nearly blew them all away, _would_ have blown them away had it not been for Steven and his Shield. And then there were the Gems that were on the ship.

Steven had already told her about Peridot, the strange green Gem from the Gem Homeworld that tried to come to Earth with lots of little sphere robots. And of course there was Lapis. Steven hadn't taken his eyes off the blue Gemstone resting on the table as he told Connie about how… _scared_ she had looked.

But then there was the third Gem, the leader of this invasion, someone Steven had never seen before, a massive, hulking Gem, bigger than _Garnet_ , named Jasper.

Steven's hands were trembling as he told Connie about her - how she kept calling him 'Rose', his mother's name, how she apparently _knew_ Rose during the rebellion, how Jasper even seemed to think he _was_ Rose.

How she _stabbed_ Garnet with some gem weapon that _split her in half_.

How she beat Pearl and Amethyst with ease.

How she had been the one to give Steven that black eye.

At this point Connie grabbed Steven's trembling arm, and placed her other hand on his shoulder.

Steven fell silent for a moment after that. When he finally spoke, it was very soft.

"She was scary Connie. I don't know why, but… she scared me."

After that, Steven continued the recounting - how he'd been knocked unconscious only to wake up in a cell on the Gem spaceship. He described how he was somehow able to push through the barrier that was supposed to keep him trapped. That alone had gotten Connie's attention. Was this some new ability of his? Or maybe the fact that he was half human disrupted Homeworld Gem technology. This could be really important.

But any thoughts on that stopped when Steven told her about two new Gems he met that were also being held captive on the ship, two Gems named Ruby and Sapphire. Only he _had_ met them before.

Ruby and Sapphire were the two halves of _Garnet_.

Garnet was a _fusion_.

Steven's face lit up with the closest thing to a true, honest smile Connie had seen him make that day when he described their reunion. How Ruby and Sapphire were just so _happy_ to see each other again. The first thing they did was pull each other into a deep embrace, showering each other with kisses, Ruby twirling Sapphire around as they laughed and cried until finally their bodies glowed and melted together to form the woman that Steven and Connie knew.

Steven's happiness had been infectious. Connie couldn't help sporting a huge smile as Steven explained what Garnet told him afterwards. Ruby and Sapphire were two Gems who loved each other so much that they preferred to stay fused all the time.

Connie was no stranger to fusion herself of course. She'd _been_ half of a fusion with Steven. And those few hours they'd spent together as Stevonnie was easily the most amazing experience of her entire life. It wasn't like she might've expected it, such as her controlling one part and Steven controlling the other part like they were piloting some giant robot. Instead, it hadn't just been their bodies that were blended together. It was their minds as well - into something that was familiar, but also entirely new. There was no line dividing her thoughts from Steven's, no point where she ended and Steven began. In truth, there wasn't any _Connie_ or _Steven_ , only… _Stevonnie_.

Of course, they hadn't been able to keep it up forever. Eventually they simply split apart, specifically when she, or rather _they_ had that anxiety attack at that party. Pearl explained to her afterwards that fusion was the product of participating Gems synchronizing their thoughts and feelings with each other, allowing them to work as one. That was why the Gems would always dance together to perform fusion, to get their thoughts and actions on the same wavelength. And, as Pearl explained, Fusion couldn't last forever. Generally encountering something that created major conflicting thoughts between the component minds would cause catastrophic desynchronization, which in turn would cause the Fusion to fall apart.

However, it wasn't just major conflicting thoughts. After a while, the two component minds would simply fall out of sync and begin creating conflicting thoughts naturally. Eventually, the conflicting thoughts built up until the fusion simply couldn't hold itself together. Pearl had specifically compared the effect to Mechanical Resonance and seemed quite happy when Connie understood the comparison. Pearl seemed to be close to tears when Connie suggested 'Cognitive Oscillation' as a term for the phenomenon. From there, the conversation had somewhat deviated into a discussion on human psychology and the terminology for various phenomena, at least until Amethyst passed through and chimed in with "NEEEERRRRDD!" The point had been made however. Fusions had a time limit. There simply was only so long that two Gems could remain merged together. That applied to all fusions.

All fusions except Garnet.

And the reason Garnet didn't have a time limit was because Ruby and Sapphire _wanted_ to stay fused. More than anything, they wanted to stay together because, more than anything, they _loved_ each other, and loved being with each other. They were, literally, _soulmates_. Garnet was practically the physical manifestation of Ruby's and Sapphire's love for one another.

Being the huge fantasy novel geek that she was, Connie couldn't help but squee at the thought of what seemed like the ultimate fairy-tale romance come to life.

But then Steven continued the story, and his smile fell.

Garnet had fought Jasper while Steven went to free Pearl and Amethyst, and together the three of them took control of the ship from Peridot. They were able to briefly capture Peridot, but the green Gem managed to slip away and get to an escape pod. Pearl was able to get control and managed to start dropping the ship out of orbit. But apparently, Garnet's fight with Jasper did a number on the ship, smashing up the engines and other important systems. By the time the fusion had beaten Jasper and managed to find them, the ship was in free-fall and nearly breaking apart.

If it hadn't been for Steven's bubble-shield, they probably wouldn't have survived the landing.

Connie remembered walking down the beach, seeing it littered with debris. There really wasn't anything recognizable left of the ship. If she hadn't known what it looked like from Steven, she never would have been able to guess. She knew first-hand that Steven's bubble was tough, but to have protected them through a crashing, _exploding_ spaceship…

After Lion dug them out of the debris they were buried under, it seemed like everything was over.

And that was when Jasper pulled herself out of the debris.

Not only had she survived her fight with Garnet, the massive Gem survived an exploding spaceship. Jasper seemed practically unstoppable then, ranting about how Garnet only won because she was a fusion.

She may have looked pretty banged up herself, but the same could be said of Steven and the Gems.

And then Lapis appeared, pulling herself free of her own pile of wreckage.

Steven had mentioned earlier how he'd seen Lapis on the ship before they escaped, how she was in a cell just like the rest of them. It was obvious Lapis hadn't come on this mission by choice. And just like before, she was scared. _Really_ scared. She even refused Steven's help to get her out of the cell. Lapis told Steven that there was no way they could win. She said their only chance was to stop fighting and accept their fate. When it seemed like Lapis wouldn't budge, Steven promised her he'd come back once he freed the other Gems.

Only he wasn't able to keep that promise. By the time Steven, Amethyst, Pearl and Garnet were all back together, the ship was already coming apart. They didn't have time to get Lapis.

So when Lapis pulled herself out the wreckage, Steven was happy. He had been afraid that she… wasn't okay.

But then, when the blue Gem tried to fly away, Jasper grabbed her.

Steven's hands began trembling again as he described the things Jasper said - how she demanded that Lapis fuse with her and how they could crush the Crystal Gems. Jasper kept talking about power and revenge.

Throughout all of this, Steven begged Lapis not to do it, even as Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl held him in a protective grasp.

Then Lapis seemed to actually _accept_ Jasper's demand. But somehow, Steven knew that Lapis wasn't going to fight them. She was tricking Jasper. She was going to take control of the fusion and use it to imprison both of them. And Steven also knew this was a bad idea, that this wasn't going to work, and Lapis was going to get hurt if she tried it.

So even as Jasper and Lapis started a fusion dance, Steven summoned his shield and hurled it right into Jasper's face.

Lapis yelled at him afterwards, saying that she could handle things, but that was enough to tip Jasper off that she was up to something.

The trembling of Steven's hands only increased as he continued.

Steven described how Jasper grabbed Lapis by the throat with one of her massive hands, hoisting her up as she ranted about them all being 'traitors'. But Lapis wasn't able to reply. She was too busy fighting to breathe. Steven described how Lapis's face contorted and scrunched, how her limbs had flailed as she desperately fought to get free.

With Jasper distracted, Pearl and Amethyst had time to fuse into Opal. The massive four-armed fusion proceeded to shoot Jasper full of arrows. That was finally more than the Gem could take and she was poofed back to her gemstone.

But not before she was able to crush Lapis's neck, poofing her as well.

Garnet bubbled Jasper's gem and Steven carefully collected Lapis's, placing her where it rested now.

Steven was still staring at it when Connie put a hand on his shoulder.

"Steven. Are you okay?"

When he turned to look at her, Connie nearly gasped. Steven's expressions were always so bright, so positive. Connie remembered how vibrant his expressions were, even when he was sad or uneasy.

The look he gave her now was devoid of all of that. His expression was dull, blank… _lifeless_.

When Steven spoke, it was barely audible.

"I don't know."

Silence fell over the both of them. Eventually Steven turned his head away to look at Lapis's gem on the table. Only, he didn't seem to be staring at the blue Gemstone. It was as if he was just staring off into nothingness.

For her part, Connie was at a complete and utter loss. She'd come here to check up on Steven, to make sure he was okay. But she realized now that part of her was expecting him to be okay. After all, he always seemed to bounce back after all kinds of crazy stuff she'd seen him go through. He had to be okay.

Except Steven _wasn't_ okay. And Connie had absolutely no idea what to do.

After what felt like hours, Steven finally spoke.

"Connie… I think you should stop coming over."

"What? Steven, what do you mean?" Connie was already at such a loss, and now Steven was talking about her leaving?

"Everybody's told me Gem stuff is dangerous. I guess I didn't believe it until now. Dad always seemed so apprehensive about all this, and now he's really freaking out. I don't want that for you."

"Steven…" Connie's eyes widened as her friend continued.

"Everybody tells me life is precious on this planet. And that means you. I have to protect you. What if somehow you get hurt? I don't want that for you."

Connie was practically frozen.

"Connie, I think you're better off not worrying about me. You don't have to be a part of this. I… I don't think I want you to be. You don't need this. You don't need m-"

"STEVEN!"

Connie grabbed both of Steven's shoulders and wrenched him around to face her, looking him dead in the eyes for the first time since she'd first gotten there. His eyes were wide with confusion.

"Don't. Do this. Don't cut me out like this Steven! Don't push me away!"

"Connie… You don't have to worry-"

"Of course I have to worry! You think just because I'm not here means I'm not going to worry? That's only going to make me worry more! What kind of stupid logic is that?!"

Steven didn't have an answer for that. He just looked away, averting his eyes from hers.

"I just… I don't want you to get hurt…"

"And staying away from you is going to be any better? You told me these Gems want to destroy Earth. So I don't see how staying at home is going to be any safer. And what about you? Who's keeping you safe?"

Steven was obviously getting desperate. His voice started to crack.

"Connie, please. We can't be friends anym-"

"NO! Do you hear me? NO! You are not doing this! YOU ARE NOT GOING TO PUSH ME AWAY!"

Connie felt herself shaking, her own voice cracking and her eyes becoming damp.

Intellectually, she knew what was going on. She'd read enough fantasy novels to recognize the whole 'Hero gets hurt and tries to distance himself from friends and loved ones' trope. And there was no way she was going along with it.

Connie remembered the fear she had, that one day she might wake up to discover all this magic and wonder might be gone. She _did not_ want to leave, no matter how dangerous it might be. But not because of the magic, the wonder or the adventure. Not even because of the Gems.

No. More than any of that, she didn't want to leave _Steven_.

Before Steven, she had been that shy bookworm hiding behind the big glasses and always off in the corner, the one who spent all her free time reading books and watching movies because she had _no one to talk to._ No _friends_. _NOBODY_. And then she met Steven, the boy who broke her out of that bubble she'd been hiding in all her life. Who showed her all of these amazing things she'd never imagined and gave her the confidence to do things she'd never dreamed, while asking for nothing, but to be a friend.

And Steven _was_ her friend. Her _best friend_.

That's why she was _not_ going to leave. She was _not_ going back to the scared little girl she was before, and she was _not_ going to leave Steven in the state he was in right now.

"…If you really think that. If you really don't want to be friends…"

Connie struggled to keep her voice straight. She could feel the tears starting to roll down her cheeks. Even though Steven's head was lowered, she still mustered the biggest glare she could.

"…Then you better say it to my FACE!"

They were both still for a few moments, then Steven raised his head to meet Connie's gaze.

His face was drenched in his tears.

"I… I still… w-want to be friends!" he could barely speak through his chokes and sobs.

"Oh… Steven…"

Part of Connie really wanted to slug Steven for being such an idiot.

But she was tired from all this, so she pulled him into a hug instead.

"Steven… Please don't push me away like that."

She rested her chin on his shoulder.

"I want to be a part of this. I want to be here for you."

She felt his arms encircle her in turn.

"I want to be a part of your Universe."

She felt the dampness on the side of her head, and heard the chokes and sobs.

Connie knew she didn't need to say anything else. She just needed to hold on tight for as long as Steven needed.

She didn't know how long they stayed like that, just holding on to each other.

Eventually, Steven's sobbing petered out, and his grip loosened a little. Connie relaxed her grip too and drew back, getting a good look at Steven's face again.

"Feel better?"

He looked like a mess. His hair was messier than usual, His eyes were red and still watery. There were tear streaks all over his face…

And he was smiling.

It was a small smile, but unlike before, it was more than a simple upturning of his lips. She could see that little gleam to his eyes again. For the first time today, _this_ was a _Steven_ smile.

"Yeah… Thanks." He reached up to wipe his eyes with his sleeve. "Sorry about… all that." He looked at her sheepishly.

"Eh," Connie shrugged, "It's not that bad. I think all Magical Destiny people do it at some point."

"Really? Heh, I guess now I understand what Lisa was going through after all that stuff at the High Temple," he replied with a chuckle.

"Yeah," Connie chuckled back. It actually was just like… wait.

"Steven, I thought you were on Book _Five?_ "

They stared at each other blankly for a moment.

Then Steven slapped his forehead.

"Ah man! I read them in the wrong order again didn't I? I really thought I had it…" Steven trailed off as he noticed something.

Connie was giggling. That giggling quickly turned to laughter.

And soon he was laughing too.

Both of them laughed long and hard. After everything that happened, here they were, talking about Connie's fantasy novels again. At lost last, something that was… _normal_. For them at least.

Soon the laughter died down, and this time both were left with big smiles on their faces.

"You know," Connie started, "maybe next time we should read those books together. Just so you know you're going in the right order."

"Yeah," Steven answered, "that sounds like a good idea."

Both children smiled at each other. It was only then that Connie realized they were holding hands. A year ago, she might have jerked back, thinking how awkward that was. Now, she just enjoyed it. Right now, there was absolutely no place she'd rather be.

"So, would you like to stay for din-?" Steven spoke, but was cut off.

By the sudden bright blue glow coming from the Gem before them.


End file.
